Treatment of petroleum.



J. A. DUBBS.

TREATMENT 0F PETROLEUM.l

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 3, |911.

v ii-us crans i c JESSE A. DUEJBS, OF SANTA MONICA,

CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR T0 NATIONAL HYDRO- CARBON COMPANY, OF CHICAGO,ILLINOIS, A GORPORATTON 0F SOUTH DAKOTA.

. TREATMENT OIF PETROLEUM.

il., T35,5OR.

Patented Apr.. T3., lllllo application sied nine 3, 191i. serial No.631,189.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, Jiis'sn A. DUBBs, acitizen of the United States, residing at Santa Monica, in the county ofLos Angeles and State of California, have inventeda certain new anduseful llmprovenient in the Treatment of Petroleum, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention relates to a process for the distillation of petroleumoils, particularly the asphaltic oils such as produced in California,and to the production of asphalt and asphaltic residues.

It has special reference to the treatment of the crude asphaltic oilsfor the obtainment of a maximum percentage of distillate and of residualasphaltic products of varying grades, by a process generally consistlngyin subjecting the'oil, having a small amount of moisture either in theform of Water or steam, to a heat and pressure varying according to thedensity or gravity of the crude,l and the percentage of Water used ornaturally present in the oil, and causing the mixture of oil and Water.thus heated, to expand in a vaporizing chamber, from which thedistillates, as Well as various grades of as halt, are recoverable.

etroleuni oils have heretofore been subjected to pressure and heat forspecic purposes, principally to prevent the liberation l of any vaporwhile the pressure is being pressure,l break maintained, and thereby tocause a chemical combina-tion. of thed homologous hydrocarbon,y suchprocess being productive of a more homogeneous vapor when the oil isallowed to expand4 in a vaporizing chamber. Such processes require ahigh heat and an enormous pressure to cause a vaporization of the oil,and even then thel hydrocarbon molecules are not split up to a degreesucient for a complete evolution of the inherent vapors because theexpansion per molecule oet oil isV limited, and the diderenthydrocarbons existing naturally inl crude petroleum: will not be actedon by or respond to theexpansive forces caused by the pressure, in equalmeasures. I do not refer to the unvaporizable constituents o fthe' crudeoil, but only to those hydrocarbonV elements Which, in the presence ofheat and from the basic or more. solid. constituents.

.sudden liberation of the up and become separated' I have discoveredthat the subjection of oil, admiXed with an element of moisture having aWide expansive range When heated,

such as steam or Water, to a temperature ranging according to thedensity of the crude, from 150 F. to 600, and under a pressure of say 50to 300 pounds per square inch, will give a far better and'increasedyield of distillates, and a residual product 'that may be gaged forpenetrability, ductility and tenacity according to the requisites of theuse. When the oil thus subjected is liberated in a vaporizing chamber,the particles of oil are broken uo by what may be termed the successiveaction due to the pressure and the ensuing expansion of the steam andoil. The expansion of the Water being far in excess of the expansion ofthe oil, it is obvious that ,the disintegration of the oil into finelydivided globules is nearly perfect.l Escaping into the vaporizingchamber of the apparatus, to be presently described, in a foamycondition, consisting of globules or vesicles of the viscous cohesiveliquid oil, containing the vaporized constituents, these globules orvesicles are'broken up andy dispersed by thev confined vapors, Which arethen drawn off and condensed, While the asphaltic residuum falls tothebottom of the chamber. Though there is a thorough disintegration ofthe oil When .the pressure is removed, the chemical affinity of thehydrocarbon elements is not destroyed, but only suspended controllingthe temperature, the' softness o1" hardness of the product sought.

The accompanying drawing represents the prefered form of a still forcarrying out the i proces herein-before deifned. l[t consists of avaporizing chamber 1, of necessary height, with which a fire box 2 is incommunication. In the said re box2 is a coil 3, connected with a supplypipe 4 through which crude oil is delivered from a pump to nthe coil; asteam pipe 6 is connected with said supply pipe,'as is also a Water pipe7, such pipes serving to give to the'crude oil the necessarymoisture'before it enters the coil 3. The mixture of oil and water inthe coil 3, is heated, preferably by an oil burner 8, to a temperaturesufficient to cause a free liberation of the hydrocarbon distillates,and a conversion of the Water into steam., Such temperature ranges from15()o F. to 600o F., according to the density of the crude, and Whilethe evolution of vapors occurs in proportion to the heat, -there occursconcurn rently a pressure as a result of such evolution of vapors, suchpressure increasing proportionately with the increase in Vheat Vand thegeneration of vapors. rlhe oil thus admixed, would ordinarily incylinder distillation, foam to a considerable extent, but beingconfined, and under a steadily increasing pressure, no such action takesplace during the subjection of the oil to pressure, until it is causedto discharge, when by the suddenness of the liberation of pressure theoil bursts forth, dissipating the volatile constituents.l Such dischargeoccurs in the vaporizing chamber 1, through. the rose 9, which isconnected with the pipe 10, leading from the coil 3. On said pipe 10 isa pressure valve 11, fulcrumed in a lever 12, which is pivotallysupported on said pipe, and on which is mounted a Weight 12 adjustablerelatively thereto. The adjustment of the Weight on the said lever 12regulates the pressure of the oil and Water that is necessary toovercome the Weighted valve 11, such pressure being indicated by thegage 13 on the pipe 10. When from the distillates or residual productsit is found that additional heat is required to either vaporize thesteam or decrease the penetrability yof the asphalt, the damper 14 inthe fire'bo'x 2 is opened and the damper 15 in the stack or flue 16 isclosed. In this manner the products of combustion from the heatproducing medium, are let into the vaporizing chamber to meet in theirascent the unvolatilized particles or remnants of oil that have notsuccumbed'to complete disintegration by the original eX- pansive forceof the pressure. This is found desirable especially Where the crude oilsubjected topressure is very dense and on accountof such vdensitytheexpansion ensuing upon liberation is not as great as with lightercrudes, even thoughthe pressure is increased to meet this difiiculty.Ordinarily the still is runwith the damper 14 closed and flue damper 15opened, whereby the heat or gas produced from combustionk escapes to theatmosphere. In some cases it may be desirable to use superheated steamor hot air in the vaporizing chamber 1, when a finer distilled productand a more tenacious asphalt is desired from the oil, that is obtainableby the rupture of the bubbles or vesicles upon removal of the highpressure. Superheated steam may be delivered to the vaporizing chamberthrough the nozzle 17 extending in the bottom of the still, such nozzleforming the terminus of a pipe 18 leading from a superheater 19 disposedwithin the fire box 2, and receiving heat from a suitable source such asan oil burner 20. Air may be delivered to the vaporizing chamber throughthe same nozzle 17, by closing the valve 21 in the pipe 18 and openingthe valve provided on an air pipe 23, which is connected with anysuitable supply not shown. Obviously both valves 21 and 22 may besimultaneously opened to admit steam and air, where this is foundnecessary, in case of oxidation of the oils.

Should the delivery of the compressed oil body to the nozzle 17 be toogreat for ready discharge, the overfiow or surplus oil will travelthrough pipe 24 to a collecting tank,

after the valve 25 thereon has been opened.

The distillates are drawn off from the vaporizing chamber 1, through apipe 26, a suction being maintained by steam sprays issuing from jets 27and 28. Said distillate conveying pipe 26 connects with a. condenser inthe form of a coil 29 submerged in a body of Water, the condenseddistillate being drawn off through a trap 30 and pipe 31 leading fromthe trap, which serves to prevent the passage of any uncondensed vaporinto the collector. Such uncondensed vapor may be allowed to escape tothe atmosphere through pipe 32, or the same may be drawn off by means ofa suction pump 33, which also serves to draw the vapors from thevaporizing chamber 1. The asphaltic residuum is drawn off through theoutlet pipe 34, leading from the bottom of the still.

According to the process described, the proportions of Water added tothe crude which does not naturally contain Water, should preferably befrom 1% to 3%, Where an increased yield of distillates is desired. ButWhere a residual product is sought, the percentage of Water added shouldvary from 1% to 5%, according to experiments which show that theseproportions are most economically eiiieient to thoroughly atomize theoil. It will be understood that a larger percentage of water added ornaturally contained in the crude, will not vary the final results of theprocess in point of quality or quantity, but the .time of treatment willbe changed, that is lessened or prolonged according to temperature.These proportions will change, as shown by experiments, only as thegravity of the oil changes, so that for instance, Where a 20 gravity oilis treated vary in accordance with the proportions of water, which if itbe from 1% to 3%, will require a temperature of from 300 F. to', Li60 F.For distillates and residues, the

' temperature is increased to properly vaporize the mixture, it rangingthen from 300 F. to 600 F. f

What ll claim is:

l. 'llhe process of treating petroleum which consists in mixing withpetroleum water, under pressure, then subjecting the vmixture to avaporizing temperature and a pressure 'of from 50 to 600 pounds .persquare inch, and thereupon allowing the vaporized mixture to escape in avaporizing chamber. v

2. The process of treating or vaporizing petroleum which consists inintimately mixing with the petroleum, underpressure, a quantity of waterdeterminable by the gravity of the petroleum, then subjecting themixture to heat sufficient to -vaporize kthe same and to pressure aboveatmospheric pressure, then allowing the vaporized mixture to expand in aheated chamber, and finally separating and condensing the vapors.

3. The process of treating petroleum or its derivatives which consistsin mixingl from water mixed therewith, comprisingl confining a mixtureof oil and water, heating the same under pressure, said pressure in partbeing produced by the volatilization of the mixture, the steamgenerating from 'the water interacting in confinement with the oil andincreasing the volatilization thereof, and thereafter relieving thepressure and discharging the mixture into a 'vaporizing chamber in thevtorm of a finely divided spray, the steam thereupon'Lby its expansiveenergy, acting to additionally break up the oil into vapors.

ln testimony whereof I have set my hand in thepresence of two witnesses.

' JESSE A. DUBBS. Witnesses:

FRANK NEWNHAM, F. J. MCCLARY.

